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1172
GĪTĀ-RAHASYA OR KARMA-YOGA
entire creation ; there is no other way. Out of these, sensecontrol has been dealt with in Chapter SIX; and from Chapter VII to Chapter XVII, is given the explanation of (i) how the Knowledge of the Paramešvara is acquired while practising the Karma-Yoga, and (ii) what that Knowledge is. Out of these, Chapter SEVEN and Chapter EIGHT deal with the Spiritual and the Empirical Knowledge (jñāna-vijiāna) of (i) the Mutable and the Immutable and (ii) the Perceptible and the Imperceptible : and Chapters NINE to TWELVE deal with the doctrine that though the Imperceptible form of the Parameśvara is superior to the Perceptible form, yet, worshipping the Perceptible, without losing sight of the fact that there is only one Parameśvara, is a path which is easy for everybody, because it is a matter which is capable of practical realisation. Then in Chapter THIRTEEN, the theory of the Body and the Ātman (kşetra-kşetrajña-vicāra) has been explained by saying that, that which is known as the 'aryakta' (Imperceptible) in the Consideration of the Mutable and the Immutable, is, indeed, the Atman within the body of a man; and thereafter, there has been a detailed consideration from Chapter FOURTEEN to Chapter SEVENTEEN of the way in which persons of diverse natures in the world, as also the other diversified expansion of the world, came into existence, as a result of the constituents of Prakrti--which subject-matter, is really an offshoot of the Consideration of the Mutable and the Immutable; and in this way, the exposition of Spiritual and Empirical Knowledge has been completed. But everywhere, the only advice given to Arjuna is that he should perform Action: and the definite doctrine has been enunciated, that the Karma-Yogic way of living one's life, namely, the path of "worshipping the Parameśvara, and doing all Actions with a pure mind, according to one's status, till death, and with the idea of dedicating everything to the Parameśvara" is, indeed the best path of life. When, in this way, the Karma-Yoga, based on Knowledge, and in which Devotion is the supreme factor, has been explained in all its bearings, that very religion has
